


Fae Fight - Interlude

by Liv Campbell (perdikitti), William Alexander (zannyvix)



Series: Faerie Gifts [3]
Category: Alpha and Omega - Patricia Briggs, Mercy Thompson Series - Patricia Briggs
Genre: Complicated Relationships, Fae & Fairies, Gay, Gay Male Character, Implied gay sex, Interlude, M/M, Short, Werewolves, relationship drama
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2015-11-23
Updated: 2015-11-23
Packaged: 2018-05-03 02:48:08
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,787
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/5273639
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/perdikitti/pseuds/Liv%20Campbell, https://archiveofourown.org/users/zannyvix/pseuds/William%20Alexander
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>No relationship is without its rough patches, and Sam Willoughby's discovering that dating one of the fae comes with its own special challenges.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Fae Fight - Interlude

**Author's Note:**

> We do not own anything in Patricia Briggs' universe. We just enjoy playing in it.
> 
> For the record, I prefer to write things that interweave with the existing canon, while disrupting the original world as little as possible. I want the stories and characters to feel as if they could be part of the same world, but playing out in different locations at the same time, before, or after events we see happen in the books and short stories. The folks I write with have similar aspirations. Canon characters may make appearances or be referenced, but our stories are primarily of other wolves and other packs. They're dealing with the same strictures and difficulties that the canon characters have dealt with, just in their own ways. For reference, this takes place roughly four years before the events in Moon Called.
> 
> Many thanks to Perdikitti, who writes with me, who was responsible for bringing Rob, Owen, and others to life, and whose editing help is invaluable. =)

**June 2004**

 

Rob and I had been living together for maybe six months when we had our first real hiccup. Everything was going fine, and then one day he didn’t come home from work at the usual time. I didn’t worry too much at first, since sometimes he got delayed. Working at the bar down at the horse track meant he was often on a later shift than me and my carpentry, but midnight rolled around and I still hadn’t seen hide nor hair of him, and no calls on my phone, either. I went to bed alone that night with just my coonhound Rosie curled up on my feet.

When he still hadn’t showed up the next morning, though, I started to fret. I left a message on his phone, which he didn’t answer, and took the long way to my current job site so I could stop by Rob’s little studio apartment. Sometimes he crashed there if he’d had a particularly late night at work. His motorcycle wasn’t in the usual space, though, and when I checked the apartment with the key he’d given me, the scents inside were stale. It hadn’t been visited in weeks by my best guess.

I left a second message on his phone with my growing concerns, but had to get to work myself. Custom cabinetry is finicky stuff, and the client was pretty high strung, so I had to be on site for the install. The demands of my job at least left me little time to think about where Rob might’ve gotten to or why he wasn’t answering his phone. I tried my best not to be too clingy or demanding, but I couldn’t ignore my wolf’s instincts. Rob might not need me to protect or defend him, but not knowing where he’d gotten to or whether or not he was okay just about drove me up the wall.

It shouldn’t have surprised me to find Owen waiting on my porch when I got home. My friend and fellow werewolf had always had a knack for knowing when I was out of sorts, even before I’d joined the Bluegrass Pack. Owen could’ve given Lucille Ball a run for her money with his red hair and swanky outfits. He smoothed out the skirts of his pretty 1950’s style frock when I came up the front walk, though he didn’t get up from the porch swing. His ankles were crossed in front of him, showing off killer heels that matched the dress. Owen ain’t gay like I am, he just likes women’s clothing, and he looks good in it, so who would I be to complain?

“What’s wrong, Sammy?” he asked without preamble as I climbed the porch steps. He phrased it gently, a question rather than a command. Though Owen was my friend, the difference in our ranks meant my wolf sometimes got temperamental if someone below us tried to order us around.

“Why would anything be wrong?” I snapped back, still wound up from worry and the tensions of dealing with a difficult client all day. Owen just looked at me in silence, not quite meeting my gaze, until I reigned in my temper and blew a frustrated breath out through my teeth.

“Sorry, didn’t mean to growl at you. Ain’t your fault,” I apologized.

“Forgiven,” he responded, waving it away. He'd done his nails to match the dress, and they sparkled in the sun. “Are you going to tell me what’s gotten under your collar? I’ve felt your anxiety chewing away at the pack bonds all day.”

I winced. “Didn’t realize I was broadcasting it,” I murmured. Usually I had a pretty good handle on what of my emotions I allowed to reach the rest of the pack, but sometimes the magic got the better of me.

“I doubt anyone but me and Alec noticed it,” Owen said, rising to his feet. “Though you should be more careful. There are still wolves who might take it as an excuse to challenge you while they think you’re off balance.”

“Yeah, I’ll pay more attention,” I promised. I half wondered if the Alpha had sent Owen to check on me, knowing he was my friend, or if he’d come on his own. I unlocked the door of my home so we wouldn’t have to talk on the porch, and Owen followed me inside. “Rob’s been missing since yesterday evening,” I admitted when I closed the door behind us.

“You lost your boyfriend?” Owen asked, a touch of wry humor in his voice. Owen and Rob didn’t like each other very much, and the comment brought on a surge of irritation.

“I didn’t _lose_ him. I just dunno where he’s gotten to at the moment,” I shot back. “Pardon me for being worried about the man I love.”

“Sammy…” Owen sighed. “Of course you’re concerned for him. I didn’t mean to suggest otherwise.”

Mollified by the apology, I backed off a little. “It’s just… The last time Rob disappeared and I couldn’t get ahold of him, it was a year before I saw him again,” I said, running a hand over my short-cropped hair. “We agreed to stay out of each other’s business when it comes to pack and fae stuff, so I can’t even call his work and see if they know anything.”

Owen patted my arm. “I’m sure he’ll turn up, Sammy. Why don’t you let me cook you dinner in the meantime?”

“I _am_ capable of feeding myself,” I pointed out, though I didn’t try to stop him when he turned and headed briskly into the kitchen, skirts swishing around his legs.

“I know you are, but that doesn’t mean I can’t help.”

So I leaned against the counter and watched Owen bustle around the kitchen. He didn’t say much, but I could tell he was pleased by the changes and upgrades Rob had made since he moved in with me. Owen might not wholly approve of my boyfriend, but he liked his choices in cookware and ingredients. He pulled a round of soft cheese I liked and some fruit preserves out of the fridge along with the other stuff for the meal he was fixing.

“When did you develop a taste for brie?” Owen asked. Before Rob had come to live with me, my tastes in food had been a lot simpler and my palate far less sophisticated.

“Rob makes it,” I admitted. “Half the garage is full of maturing cheeses.”

“Is it, now?”

“Yup.” I left it at that, since I didn’t really feel like discussing my boyfriend’s hobbies. Rob’s love for cheese-making bordered on obsession, and while I thought it was cute, I didn’t want to give Owen ammunition he could use against the other man.

“Well, fancy that,” Owen mused, and went back to food prep. I wasn’t precisely sure how he felt about that facet of my life with Rob, but I was also glad he’d left the subject alone. I left him to it and went to let Rosie out of her kennel so my dog could get a little exercise. Walking her might give me a chance to clear my own head, too.

 

~~~~~~

 

Owen fed me and stayed afterward to watch a movie. It helped a little, having a packmate there. My wolf didn’t fret quite so much when were weren’t alone. I think Owen would have stayed the night if I let him, but I gently pushed him out the door after the movie ended. Much as I liked my friend and enjoyed spending time with him, I didn’t need a babysitter. I’d lived by myself for over a decade before the Alpha had made me pack, for better or worse. He went, but he wasn’t entirely happy about it. Sometimes I think Owen worries about me too much.

Even so, I had another couple days of fretting, lonely nights, and left half a dozen more messages on Rob’s phone before he breezed back in like he’d never been gone at all. It was Saturday and I wasn’t on a job, so I had to keep myself busy rather than pace holes in the carpet. I’d opened the garage door and dragged my table saw and workbench out to the driveway where the sawdust would be easier to sweep up later. I was still worked up enough that I’d forgotten to pretend the equipment was heavy, but none of the neighbors had been around to witness my goof at the time.

I was halfway through cutting slats for a spice rack when the sound of a familiar engine reached through even my hearing protection and dragged my attention off what I was doing. And just like that, there was Rob’s snazzy motorcycle parking on the street at the end of the driveway. For a long moment, I struggled against the impulse to let go of the board I’d been cutting and just let the table saw rocket it straight into that sleek little bike. Instead, I banked my wolf’s violent urges and shut off the table saw. Wrecking my boyfriend’s ride out of spite because I was mad at him was petty, even if it might feel good at the time.

Seemingly oblivious to my anger issues, Rob hopped down and strode up the driveway, trim and beautiful as always. He was a few inches short of my towering six-foot-four, with skin paler than mine, curling black hair, and pretty blue eyes that were easy to get lost in. Right then I didn’t want to get lost. I pulled off the ear protection and forced myself to put down the wood in my hands. It’s not easy to look harmless when you’re built like I am, and swinging two by fours around didn’t help.

“The hell have you been?” I hissed. I didn’t mean for it to come out as angry and possessive as it sounded, but I’d been left wondering where Rob was for the better part of a week.

He stopped short of me, brows going up. “I didn’t realize I was required to check in with you every moment of the day.”

“It’s been _four days_ ,” I said, and despite my best efforts a growl trickled into my voice. “You didn’t come home. You weren’t answering your phone. You hadn’t been by your apartment. I can’t call your work, and there was no note or message from you. I was _worried_.”

“You’ve an odd way of showing it, Sam,” he replied with a crooked smile, and strode past me into the garage.

“Yeah? Well I went past worried and onto pissed some time yesterday,” I growled, following on his heels. “What the _hell_ , Rob?” Anger was bad for werewolves. I was mad enough to let my wolf closer to the surface than I ought to, and the shift in colors I saw told me my eyes had changed, if not the rest of me. He reached for the doorknob to let himself into the kitchen, and I pushed the door shut before he could get it open, trapping him between the wood and my body.

Rob turned to face me, meeting my gaze utterly unafraid. Werewolves intimidate most folks, even when they don’t know what we are. My boyfriend, though, he was a power all on his own. He’d never been scared of me, not even when I loomed over him in a temper.

“I thought we agreed to stay out of each other’s business,” he said, his voice light. “I don’t ask you about your pack obligations, and you don’t ask me about mine.”

“We did. I’m _not_ askin’,” I said through gritted teeth. It was hard to think when the wolf craved violence. “I’m saying you vanished for days without any warnin’. I was going nuts thinkin’ somethin’ happened to you, that you’d crashed your bike in a ravine and broke your fool neck, and nobody knew it, or worse. I had no idea whether or not you were okay, or if your boss’d called you in for somethin’, or what.”

Some of the cool distance left his expression. “Sam… You know I can’t always tell you what’s going on in my life,” he said. “It isn’t my choice.”

“I know that,” I replied. Talking helped push the wolf back a little. I hadn’t broken anything yet, at least. “And I am trying my damndest not to smother you, but…”

He reached up to touch my face, and some of the anger leeched away. “You can’t help being what you are.”

Dominant werewolves protect. I’d been frantic not knowing if Rob was all right. “Yeah,” I agreed, my voice still rough.

“I still can’t tell you where I was or what I was doing.”

“I don’t care,” I growled back at him. “Just… If there’s a next time, find some way to let me know you’re gonna be gone for a bit. I think I can keep a handle on my instincts as long as I ain’t blind-sided.”

Several expressions flickered over his face. “I can try, Sam, but it might not always be possible. Can you accept that?”

I clenched my jaw. “I-. I guess,” I grumbled, not happy. “As long as you try… I was really damn worried, Rob. Owen came over and cooked dinner.”

“The carrot?” His brows shot up. Owen’s visits had been a lot less frequent once Rob had come into my life.

“Don’t call him that,” I told my boyfriend. “It ain’t nice, and he was my friend long before I met you.”

“He didn’t mess up my kitchen, did he?” Rob asked, avoiding the subject.

“No, he didn’t mess up your kitchen,” I said, rolling my eyes. “What is it with you two?”

“Not important,” Rob said with that smile of his that told me he wouldn’t discuss it anyway. “Can we go in the house now or was there more you wanted to growl at me about?”

“I’m still mad at you,” I told him.

“I know,” he replied, unfazed by my attitude. “But you’ll forget about it by the time I’ve made dinner for you.”

“I ain’t that easy to buy off,” I warned him, though I did step back and let him open the door into the house.

Rob laughed. “You’re a werewolf, love. You’re exactly that easy to buy off.”

“I’ll show you easy,” I said, following on his heels. He laughed again when I caught him, and didn’t stop until I pulled him into a kiss, drowning my senses in the scent and feel of him in my arms. As it turns out, anger and arousal aren’t actually that far off from each other.

 

~~~~~~

 

We did eventually surface long enough for me to put away my tools and let Rob make the dinner he’d promised, but it took a lot longer than either of us initially expected. Afterward, we laid together on the couch, Rob sprawled mostly on top of me and Rosie curled up on the rug before us. The television droned in the background, playing some game show, but my attention wasn’t really on it. I’d mostly forgiven Rob, but some of the shadow of worry still lingered.

“Was afraid you were gone again, like before,” I murmured while the commercials blared, entreating us to buy denture cream and invest in sub-prime mortgages.

Rob raised his head to meet my eyes, and I saw the ghost of something wild and sad flicker through his gaze. “No, not like before,” he said, and his hand found mine and squeezed. “I’m sorry if my actions alarmed you.”

I squeezed back. “Mostly just caught me by surprise. I wasn’t sure what to think,” I admitted.

He nodded. “I may have to leave for a few days here and there, and there may not be much warning, but it won’t be like before. I’ll try to leave word if I can next time.”

“I can live with that,” I told him. “Just come back safe. I know you can look out for yourself, but I don’t like worryin’ about you.”

“Then I’ll try my best not to worry you,” Rob said with a smile and laid his head back on my chest.

So much had happened in such a short amount of time, not even two years from the time I’d met him. My life now was so vastly different from how it used to be, it was almost unrecognizable to me. I’d never imagined I would find so much happiness or heartache, but I didn’t regret either. This probably wouldn’t be the only fight we’d have, not by a long shot, but the rest of the time we shared made it all worthwhile.

 

 


End file.
